Probe links McGwire to steroids in '90s

NEW YORK -- Mark McGwire's name was mentioned several times
during a federal steroids investigation in the early 1990s, but he
was not the target of the probe nor was any evidence collected
against him, the Daily News reported Sunday.

McGwire, Jose Canseco and five current players along with four
baseball executives were subpoenaed to testify at a congressional
hearing on steroids Thursday. The commissioner's office has said it
will fight the subpoenas. Canseco says he will testify and has
asked for immunity so he can answer all questions.

McGwire and some
of the other players haven't said whether they'll show in
Washington, though the committee has said those refusing to testify would be held in contempt of Congress.

Two dealers caught in the federal investigation told the Daily
News that a California man named Curtis Wenzlaff gave Canseco and
McGwire illegal anabolic steroids.

A spokesman for McGwire, Marc Altieri, told the newspaper the
former player does not remember meeting Wenzlaff.

"We're not going to comment on anything at this time," Altieri
said, "but we believe one should consider the sources of such
allegations."

Canseco said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" he met Wenzlaff in
the 1980s and worked out with him but did not buy steroids from
him.

"We're certain that if he (Wenzlaff) had supplied him with steroids, we would remember that," Canseco's lawyer Robert Saunooke said. "We find it suspect that his story is coming out now, 15 years later, right before we're supposed to testify."

When asked by the newspaper, Wenzlaff declined to comment about
McGwire but said he did give Canseco steroids.

"I supplied a bunch of players, but I'm not going to name any
other names," Wenzlaff told the Daily News. "Jose's different
because he opened the door with his book."

On Sunday, former FBI Agent Bill Randall was asked about Wenzlaff's credibility on ESPN Radio's GameNight.

"Keep in mind he was doing what he had to do to keep himself out of jail. Everything he decided to tell myself and the case agent [Greg Stejko] was all substantiated through independent investigation and it appeared to be truthful," Randall said.

Canseco said in his recently published autobiography that he,
McGwire and Giambi shot steroids together in a bathroom stall at
Oakland Coliseum.

McGwire and Giambi have denied Canseco's charges.

Canseco said Sunday he thinks a congressional investigation of
steroid use in baseball is a good idea and more people should be
called to testify.

"If Major League Baseball wanted in the past to completely just
sever steroids from Major League Baseball, they would have done it.
Obviously, there was so much money to be made," Canseco told
"This Week."

"And I truly believe that players' agents are involved --
definitely trainers, coaches, general managers, up to owners. They
all know and they knew exactly what was going on."